A-1 BEST Roofing

"Customer asked us to start his project last Monday. Before we started, he called me to tell me to be sure and bring some extra 2x4's because he felt there might be some rotted rafters in his roof. Our estimate, which I will gladly furnish to anyone who asks, included 2 sheets of replacement decking and one sheet of replacement siding that was rotted. He also asked us to make sure we obtained a Windstorm certificate. I called Arin & Franklin Engineering in Beaumont and requested the Windstorm inspection. In a matter of minutes, they informed me that this house had not been certified and had failed several inspections. They told me to be very careful and inspect the entire roof to see what was going on. I immediately called the customer and told him what I had just learned. He got very upset and began to cuss. His exact words were< "I thought that your company was supposed to obtain the Windstorm certificate so you are supposed to handle it." I informed him that the problem with the roof was that someone had decked the entire roof with very thin (3/8") plywood. This is why the roof would never pass inspection. I could not go any further with putting the new roof on until the whole roof was re-decked with the correct size of decking. I had to explain to him several times that he needed 2400 square feet of new decking - that we had nothing to do with the existing roof and that he had to have known the problem. He kept on insisting that we had to take care of the problem since we would get the Windstorm certificate. I further pointed out that our price included only two new sheets of decking. I offered to get the Engineering inspector on the phone to explain it to him and he refused. He then said he would be right over to look at the situation. He was very agitated. I waited and waited. After 45 minutes went by I called the customer, heard him answer the phone then disconnect. So I tried two more times - same result. So I texted him asking him what he wanted us to do. Again, no repsonse, After 20 more minutes he texted and said he was on his way. 25 minutes later he showed up. Omce he arrived, I showed him a piece of the thin decking - whicj was clearly visibly from the ground. He began cussing again and muttering some choice words. I also showed him where the entire back wall of his house had numerous areas of rotted wood and evidence of extreme termite damage. I explained to him that he needed major intervention procedures in order to save his structure. He then got very angry and told me to get the ________ off his property. He then began to scream at passersby that I was a _______ conman. See what a _______ conman looks like. I tried to explain to him that city code, building code and common sense would not allow me to install a new roof onto the horribly thin decking. The man has never paid me a dime, told me he would never pay me for the work we have already done - removal of all the shingles and felt paper so we could inspect the roof and get it ready for Windstorm inspection and the new roof - like we normally would. Obviously I ruined his plans for our company taking responsibility for his family's lack of maintenance and past roofing construction practices. I have never had a situation like this and still do not know what else I could have done. We found the problem, notified him, asked him what he wanted to do and the man went crazy. I offered for him to get a mediator involved to discuss the situation, I offered for him to do a three way call between us and a Homeadvisor customer service representative and try to resolve the situation. He texted me back refusing those ideas and said that I was now harassing him. He furthermore lied to Homeadvisor stating that he never authorized us to work on his roof?? I have all the evidence, text messages, and numerous photos that display everything stated. How can he rate us for something he never paid for. He told us to leave!"